What is Endemol Shine Australia trying to hide?
It’s only January and I’m already on a rant, all thanks to the PR team at Endemol Shine.
In December I wrote an exclusive story on claims the producers of Big Brother had manipulated the outcome of the show. It has been alleged production staff colluded with housemates while microphones and cameras were switched off in the diary room.
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The information for this story came from trusted sources from within the production unit.
Endemol Shine has – in my opinion – lied about what happened inside the house and defamed my reporting.
*You Can watch a video version of this article and the eomplete episode of MEDIA McKNIGHT in the player below*
So, let me take you through it.
On Monday 15 December I sent an email to Endemol Shine asking for a statement about the claims, telling them the story would be published Tuesday.
This is the email I sent to Endemol Shine Australia asking for a statement about my exclusive reporting.
After receiving no response I delayed publishing the story and rang Endemol Shine at 1.28pm on Tuesday 16 December. I confirmed the email had been received and passed on to the PR team.
No response was forthcoming.
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The story was published at 6am on Wednesday 17 December on the TV Blackbox website.
Here are the claims as per my reporting:
A car giveaway during this year’s finale of Big Brother Australia was intended to add a bit of drama to draw out the final result. What it ended up doing was exposing the manipulation behind the scenes that went much further than a bad edit.
Production insiders have revealed to TV Blackbox that producers from Endemol Shine spoke specifically to Allana Jackson and Bruce Dunne before the finale, telling them to say ‘yes’ to any challenge that came up during the live broadcast.
Apparently, producers were keen to make sure there was more than one contestant vying for the car.
Allana and Bruce were both unaware each had been told to take part.
One person who was told NOT to take part was Coco Beeby. Producers knew she was winning the overall vote and made sure the viewers’ favourite would not be eliminated before the votes were announced (the winner of the car had to leave the house, making themselves ineligible to win).
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If the competition had not been manipulated, as claimed, then it is possible Emily Dale could have won the $135,000 prize pool if Coco had decided to take part in the car challenge and won.
The Daily Mail and news.com.au both followed up the story, forcing Endemol Shine to take the enquiries seriously and put out a statement.
That statement was then sent to me on Wednesday at 10.48am – almost five hours after the story was published and days after they were asked for a statement.
“The claims made regarding the production of Big Brother Australia are false. Interactions in the diary room are limited to standard production, safety, and housemate welfare. The integrity of Big Brother and its results were never compromised.”
It was emphatic and damning.
So, I wrote back:
“Have the claims actually been investigated?
The information comes from well placed – and trusted – sources.
Also, why has this statement only been provided after publication when I originally told you I would be publishing Tuesday morning, but I delayed – and called – to try and get a statement”.
I have still not received a response to these questions.
After checking again with my sources, my only conclusion is the PR team at Endemol Shine have lied. And if that is the case, their lies have essentially defamed my reputation as a credible source of information.
My record on scoops is pretty high, but if I get something wrong I always take full responsibility.
Not this time though – I believe my reporting to be fair and accurate.
And I faced a backlash over that statement from ESA. I was attacked on Media Spy as being unreliable with the truth. Two stories on two of Australia’s biggest online publishers have accused my reporting of being incorrect, based on the statement by Endemol Shine.
Again, a statement I believe to be a lie.
So, should PR people be held accountable for their lies?
Should they be able to hide behind the title of ‘spokesperson’ when spreading false information?
Previously, I held the ABC publicity department to account for the way they behaved when I had an exclusive story and they spoiled it after I went to them for a statement. I received major backlash for daring to hold PR people to account, but it doesn’t seem fair to me that they can destroy reputations without consequences.
So, now I face the dilemma of whether to name the individual who – knowingly or unknowingly – defamed my reputation by claiming my story was wrong.
There’s also a question of whether the reporters of the stories on news.com.au and The Daily Mail should have approached me to find out whether I trusted my sources, but they didn’t.
Relationships with PR types is an important part of any beat. Reputations are important when knowing who can – and can’t – be trusted.
That very same week I heard a weird rumour about a high-profile presenter, so I contacted someone very high in the organisation to find out if it was true. A one-word answer came confirming the story was false. Because of the trust I have in that person, I dropped the story. PR people need to realise they only get away with lying once.
I have no trust in the PR team at Endemol Shine and I warn every journalist to take anything they say with a grain of salt.
As for the story itself, it does raise questions about how much Big Brother was manipulated. While we know reality TV has very little reality, a show like Big Brother is supposed to be as real as it gets, but now the outcome itself is in question.
A comment by user IDC9 on the story summed it up best:
These allegations are very serious. If Endemol Shine is found to have done what is being alleged, Ten should tear up any and all contracts they have with them, and find new production partners to work with. While this would undoubtedly throw Ten’s plans and schedules for 2026, and potentially 2027 into complete chaos, that is a small price to pay for ensuring that competition formats retain some degree of integrity, and are not manipulated so brazenly by those who work on them. Some manipulation is, sadly, to be expected with these formats. But this is a bridge too far!
I couldn’t agree more.
You can find the full edition of MEDIA McKNIGHT here, which also contains the following stories:
• Behind-the-scenes media battles following the Bondi Beach shootings
• The evidence which suggests Ricky Gervais stole a joke for his latest NETFLIX special
• Embarrassing on-air blunders at Seven and Nine
• Why Australian media still struggles with crediting original reporting
• And the stories that don’t deserve the airtime
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